Foundation garment



Jan. 13, 1942. M. A. NATHANsoN 2,259,681

FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed sept. '7, 1939 sheets-sheet 1 Jan. 13; 1942. M. A. NATHANsoN v FOUNDATION GARMENT 2 Sheets-Shea#l 2 Filed sept. 7, 1959 Patented Jan. 13, 1942 UNH" TTES TENT Fics 9 Claims.

The invention relates to foundation garments, such as corsets of various types, which include auxiliary members or supports commonly referred to as surgical supports. These auxiliary members which may take the form ci stays, pads or similar devices are prescribed to furnish additional support for a certain part of the wearers body, such for instance, as to correct, or at least assist in the correction of, a dislocated spinal vertebra or to support a prolapsed abdomen.

For this purpose the position of the auxiliary support must be exact both in its original application and during its use as the garment is subjected to varying tensions caused by different postures of the wearer.

To properly meet these requirements the auxiliary support should be capable of being assembled wth the garment at the proper level therein. Furthermore the auxiliary support should be provided with iiexible connections which are capable of positive action in the maintenance of said support, and which are so constructed and arranged as to permit universal movement of the means by which they are attached to the garment without displacing said support.

It has heretofore been customary, in one garment of this general type, to employ strips of elastic fabric to carry the auxiliary member or surgical support, said strips of elastic fabric also constituting flexible connections between said member and the garment body, the strips being permanently attached, as by stitching, to both of said parts. In such an arrangement the elastic connections are under considerable tension which must necessarily be of equal magnitude at the several points of attachment in order to maintain the auxiliary member in exact relation to its point of application.

This construction is objectionable because the following reasons:

(l) Strips of elastic fabric do not constitute positive elements and, therefore, cannot be capable of positive action in the maintenance of the auxiliary support;

(2) Elastic connections, at best, will not maintain the auxiliary support at a constant level in the garment;

(3) Elastic connections are apt to buckle under vdifferent tensions of the garment body at opposite sides of the auxiliary support with the result that this support is quite easily displaced from its intended position transversely of the garment;

(4) 'lillasticl connections-soon lose their eifec- 55 tiveness kdue to Wear and also to deterioration of the fabric caused by the absorption of moisture due to perspiration;

(5) Elastic connections, which are normally under -ccnsiderable tension, as previously pointed out, thus have a tendency to restrain the spread of the garment body when the wearer assumes certain postures; and

(6) Because the stitches attaching the connections to the garment body must be ripped out in order to shift the auxiliary support to a difierent level in the garment.

In another garment of this type, the auxiliary support is carriedby the garment lacings which are not actually connected with said support but are only frictionally engaged therewith. The garment lacings are also intended to maintain said support in a predetermined relative position.

While such an arrangement may retain the auxiliary support in a certain relative position when laced up tightly, it will not, at least in this condition, permit the garment to yield as the body of the wearer assumes different postures.

Furthermore the auxiliary support might easily become displaced, at least slightly, as the wearer employs both hands to lace the garment This construction is also objectionable because it requires tedious lacing and unlacing operations f through both garment body and auxiliary support when the garment is Worn and then discarded, and because it requires both an unlacing and relacing operation in order to shift the auxiliary support from one level to another level in the garment. c

The objects of the present invention, in a garment of this general type, include:

(l) The provision of an auxiliary member or surgical support having flexible connections which are capable of positive action in the maintenance of said member, and which include means by which said member is carried;

(2) The provision of an auxiliary member having flexible connections which will positively andv permanently maintain said member in predetermined relation to and/or between the garment bearings for said connections and at a prescribed level in the garment;

(3) 'Ihe provision of an auxiliary member having flexible connections the elements of which are capable of relative adjustment to compensate for any irregularity in the spacing and/or alignment of the garment bearings for said connections; and

(4) The provision of an auxiliary support having flexible connections constructed to embody the foregoing provisions and adapted to offer no restraint to the expansion or contraction of the garment body,

Another object of the present invention is to provide, as a separate article of manufacture to be combined with a foundation garment, an auxiliary member or surgical support having connections constructed to embody the foregoing provisions and adapted to be easily and quickly attached to any type of foundation garment and at any prescribed level therein regardless of its source of production.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention, together with means whereby the latter may be carried into effect, will be described in the following specication, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a portion of a garment, as viewed from the inside, having secured thereto one type of auxiliary support embodying the present invention;

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are enlarged horizontal sections taken, respectively, on the lines 2 2, 3 3 and 4 4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 shows the auxiliary support and its connections detached and viewed from the opposite side to that shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing differently spaced bearings to which is attached an auxiliary support identical with that shown in Figs. 1 and 5; and

Fig. '7 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but showing another type of auxiliary support embodying the invention.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings since the invention is capable of other embodiments. Also, it is to be understood that the terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, and it is not intended to limit the invention beyond the requirements of the prior art.

Referring to Figs. l to 5 inclusive of the drawings, at'B is shown the body portion of a foundation garment which may be a corset of any of the various well known types, a girdle, or similar article of wearing apparel adapted to provide support, at least generally, for the body of the Q wearer.

The body portion B of the garment has incorporated therewith two laterally spaced series of eyelets indicated at I2 and I3, with corresponding eyelets located substantially at the same level in the garment.

The eyelets I2 and I3 constitute bearings for the attachment, at the proper level in the garment, of the auxiliary or surgical support which is adapted, in conjunction with the garment body, to furnish additional support for a specied part of the wearers body. The eyelets of both series not employed for the attachment of the support may be provided with a lacing, for example, if it is desired to locate the support at the point where the garment is adjusted to t the wearer.

The auxiliary support may be in the form of a stay adapted to provide support for a prolapsed abdomen, a pad adapted to correct, or assist in the correction of, a spinal dislocation, or other similar device and the nature of its use determines the circumferential location of the eyelets I2 and I3.

As herein shown, the auxiliary support comu prises a stay S which, in accordance with the present invention, is provided with intersecting reenforcing members m1 and m2 which form, in elect, parts of said stay. These members ex tend substantially at right angles to one another and, when the stay is assembled with the garment, lie in a vertical and horizontal position respectively. The member m1 is provided with axially aligned slots I4 and I5 extending lengthwise thereof, said slots being located on opposite sides of the member m2. The member m2 is similarly provided with axially aligned slots IB and I'I located on opposite sides of the member m1.

In accordance with the present invention, the auxiliary support S is attached to the garment body B by flexible connections, comprising a plurality of inflexible elements. These elements include devices d'1, d1 which are slidably engaged with the slots I4 and I5 of the member m1. They also include pairs of intersecting links 24, 24 and 25, 25 pivotally attached to the devices d1, d1 and arranged on opposite sides of said member where they are pivotally connected with certain of the eyelets I2 and I3 by studs I8 and I9 respectively.

The pairs of intersecting links 24, 24 and 25, 25 are provided respectively with intersecting slots a, a and b, b. These slots are adapted to receive, at their points of intersection, devices d2, d2 which are slidably engaged with said slots and with the slots I6 and Il of the member m2.

The above described ilexible connections, namely the pairs of intersecting links 24, 24 and 25, 25 and the slidable devices d1, d1, constitute means by which said support is positively and permanently maintained in a predetermined relation to and/or between the bearings for said connections regardless of the relative displacement of said bearings when the garment is adjusted to t the wearer or when the wearer thereafter assumes different postures.

The slidable devices d2, d2 constitute flexible connections between the pairs of intersecting links and the auxiliary support by which said support is positively and permanently maintained at a constant level in the garment.

The slots a, a and b, b of the pairs of intersecting links in conjunction with the slots I/I and I5 of the auxiliary support provide for the relative adjustment of said links to compensate for any irregularity in the spacing and/or alignment of the garment bearings for the flexible connections. This is particularly advantageous when the auxiliary member and its connections are furnished as a separate article of manufacture (Fig. 5) and the bearings for said connections are incorporated in the garment by the garment manufacturer, in which case the arrangements of the bearings are apt to show a variation particularly in the production from different sources. As an example of this possibility, Fig. 6 shows the auxiliary support S attached to a garment in which the eyelets I2 and I3 are arranged with a different spacing from that shown in Fig. 1.

It will be evident that iiexible connections constructed in accordance with the present invention will not be subjected to tension regardless of the posture of the wearer and the relative displacement of the parts caused thereby. At least, there will be no tendency to restrain the spread of the bearings for said connections when the wearer assumes certain postures.

In addition, flexible connections constructed and arranged in accordance with the 'present in vention, that is comprising pairs of intersecting links which are oppositely disposed with respect to one axis of the auxiliary member, furnish considerable support, in themselves, tending to amplify that of the auxiliary member.

Fig. '7 shows another type of auxiliary support comprising a pad P which is provided with devices d3, d3 slidably engaging slots 30, 30 in a reenforcing member m3 attached to said pad and extending transversely thereof. Intersecting links 3l, 3| are pivotally secured at 32 to the member m3, and other links 35 connect said intersecting links with the devices d3, d3. The devices d3, d3 may themselves be directly connected with laterally spaced portions of the garment, or said laterally spaced portions may be connected with the links 35 by means independent of said devices.

I claim:

1. A garment including a body portion; an auxiliary support; and connections between said support and said body portion; said connections comprising oppositely disposed pairs of intersecting elements the elements of each of said pairs being pivotally secured to said body portion and slidably attached to said support.

2. A garment including a body portion; an auxiliary support; flexible connections between said support and said body portion, said connections comprising oppositely disposed pairs of intersecting elements; and connections between each of said pairs of elements and said support; each of said latter connections being slidably engaged with said support and slidably engaged with each of the elements of the pair to which it is attached.

3. A garment including a body portion; an auxiliary support; and connections between said support and said body portion; said connections comprising a plurality of elements some of which are pivotally secured to said support and others of which are pivotally secured to said body portion and slidably engaged with said support.

4. A garment including a body portion; an auxiliary support; and flexible connections between said support and said body portion; said connection including devices slidably engaging said support along axially intersecting paths.

5. A garment including a body portion; an

auxiliary support; devices engaging said support and slidable therein along intersecting axes; and a plurality of links connecting the devices in one of said axes with said body portion; said links being arranged in intersecting relation in pairs on opposite sides of the axis concerned, said pairs of links having intersecting slots in which the devices in the other of said axes are slidably received.

6. An article of manufacture to be attached to the body portion of a garment and comprising a support; devices engaging said support and slidable therein along intersecting axes; and a plurality of links connected with the devices in one of said axes; said links being arranged in intersecting relation in pairs on opposite sides of the axis concerned, said pairs of links having intersecting slots in which the devices in the other of said axes are slidably received.

7. An article of manufacture to be attached to the body portion of a garment and comprising a support; devices engaging said support and slidable therein along a common axis; and a plurality of links some of which are arranged in intersecting relation and pivotally attached to said support in said axis and others of which connect said intersecting links with said devices.

8. A garment including a body portion; an auxiliary support; flexible connections between said support and said body portion, said connectionscomprising a plurality of inexible elements arranged in intersecting relation in pairs at opposite sides of said support by which said support is maintained in a predetermined position relative to said body portion in one respect; and additional elements carried by each of said pairs of elements and slidably engaged with said support by which said support is maintained in a predetermined position relative to said body portion in another respect.

9. A garment including a body portion; an auxiliary support; flexible .connections between said support and said body portion, said connections comprising a plurality of inflexible elements arranged in intersecting relation in pairs at opposite sides of said support; and flexible connections between each of said pairs of elements and said support.

MATTHEW A. NATHANSON. 

